Non-believer … Joaquin Phoenix as a soldier turned drifter in The Master

He has been heavily tipped to take Oscars honours for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, but Joaquin Phoenix has taken a swipe at the annual awards season dance, dismissing it as "bullshit". Speaking to Interview magazine, the US actor said his previous stints in the Oscars spotlight had made him uncomfortable.

"I think it's bullshit," he said. "I think it's total, utter bullshit, and I don't want to be a part of it. I don't believe in it.

"It's a carrot, but it's the worst-tasting carrot I've ever tasted in my whole life. I don't want this carrot. It's totally subjective. Pitting people against each other. It's the stupidest thing in the whole world."

The actor continued: "It was one of the most uncomfortable periods of my life when Walk the Line was going through all the awards stuff and all that. I never want to have that experience again. I don't know how to explain it – and it's not like I'm in this place where I think I'm just above it – but I just don't ever want to get comfortable with that part of things."

As well as Walk the Line, in which he played singer Johnny Cash opposite an Oscar-winning Reese Witherspoon, Phoenix was nominated for Ridley Scott's Gladiator in 2001. He is seen as a frontrunner – alongside Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln – for the 2013 best actor prize for his turn in The Master as a soldier turned drifter who encounters a charismatic cult leader (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) in the aftermath of the second world war.

Some Oscars commentators have suggested that Phoenix's comments could affect his chances of taking home a gong next February, though history suggests otherwise. Marlon Brando, George C Scott and Mo'Nique also spurned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' advances when nominated for 1973's The Godfather, 1971's Patton and 2009's Precious respectively, but all went on to be awarded the statuette. Brando famously sent a native American activist to pick up his prize.